Unfortunately, Murder LA is going on hiatus. Some life events converged and I just don't have time any more. We're not a sentimental column here so I'll just say it's been a fun couple of years and hopefully we can share stories again in the future.
Here's one for the road:
Chen Chao Ming was arraigned Wednesday, February 25th for murder with a special circumstance of torture and animal cruelty. He pleaded not guilty.
The murder in question was the asphyxiation of his mother, Yi Tung Weng, who was visiting from Taiwan. Reportedly the torture element involved a hammer and a nail.
According to The China Post, Ming called 911 to report his mother's death as a suicide but investigators didn't buy it.
LA Times reports that police investigators were "traumatized" by the scene at the 22-year-old international student's apartment, in the 1300 block of Figueroa, downtown. That seems to place it across the street from the LA Convention Center.
The animal cruelty charge is because supposedly at some point Ming threw his own cat out of a window. No word on whether it survived.
Usually by now TV news would have found the suspect's school and interviewed random students about how they feel, but details are surprisingly scarce at this point.
